This invention relates generally to agricultural bale pick-up means which are employed in bale wagons, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to automatic bale wagons, which pick up bales from the ground, load the bales onto one or more load beds or floors in a predetermined manner, and unload the bales, also in a predetermined manner, without any manual assistance save for the operator's driving the wagon (be it of the self-propelled or towed type) and operating the controls.
In contrast to the automatic bale wagon, there exists the random bale wagon which has the advantage of simplicity, since all that is required is a load space and a mechanism to pick up bales from the ground and convey or throw them into the load space.
There is, of course, a need for bale pick-up means, whether employed in an automatic bale wagon, a random bale wagon or other agricultural equipment, to operate efficiently in picking up bales from the ground. A significant factor in this operation is the contact between the pick-up means and a bale being picked up. In typical bale pick-up means there is provided an elevator, often of the endless chain type, operable to engage a bale end and to elevate that bale to a position in which the longitudinal axis of the bale is generally vertical. The bale is then delivered either to another component of the pick-up means or to the bale wagon, for example, with which it may be employed. Since contact with the bale is normally as a result of the pick-up means being maneuvered towards the bale which is stationary in a field, initial contact is often adequate but once the bale has been lifted clear of the ground, or the area of contact between the bale and the ground reduced by a significant amount, it is very desirable to positively urge a bale into contact with the elevator.
In the bale pick-up means or loader of U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,527, this is achieved by the use of a bale shoe or holder which is a planar member pivotally suspended from a frame of the pick-up means for movement about a single axis extending transversely of the associated elevator. Such a shoe functions reasonably well but has been found lacking for two main reasons: firstly the distance between the single pivot axis and the elevator is fixed, and secondly, there is a tendency for the shoe to pivot when there is a bump or indentation in a bale's surface with the result that the area of contact between the shoe and bale is much reduced. As regards the fixed distance between the shoe pivot axis and the elevator, problems can arise due to the fairly frequent variations in bale size. Oversize bales tend to jam between the shoe and elevator and undersize bales lose contact with at least a major portion of the shoe, thereby reducing its effectiveness and causing some hesitancy in the pick up of a bale. The foregoing problems are solved in the design of the apparatus comprising the present invention by providing bale pick-up means comprising a frame, bale elevator means mounted on the frame operable to lift a bale from the ground and bale holding means effective to constantly engage a bale being elevated and to hold the bale in contact with the elevator means.